The X-Files backdrop
Mystery•Sci-Fi & Fantasy•Crime

The Worst Episodes of The X-Files

Every episode of The X-Files ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The X-Files!

Binge this in 6d 20h•Peaking at 9.2/10

The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is

Airs on
FOX
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons11

All1234567891011

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
    Click to reveal
    The X-Files Season 3 Episode 18 - Teso Dos Bichos
    5.9/10(4839 votes)

    S3:E18

    The unearthing of an ancient Ecuadorian Amaru urn and its removal to America despite protests leads to a series of deaths linked to a shaman spirit released by the urn.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 20 - Fight Club
    5.9/10(3836 votes)

    S7:E20

    Mulder and Scully cross paths with two women who are identical and have followed each other across 17 states in the last three years, causing chaos and mayhem wherever they are.

    Director:Paul Shapiro
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 13 - First Person Shooter
    6.0/10(4430 votes)

    S7:E13

    The Lone Gunmen call Mulder and Scully to a virtual reality development lab where they learn that one of the program testers was killed inside the computer generated game environment by the digital image of a woman. Needing to get his yah-yah's, Mulder enters the game to fight the woman, but Scully must step in to save him.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writers:Tom Maddox, William Gibson

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 9 - Space
    6.2/10(7866 votes)

    S1:E9

    Mulder and Scully are contacted by a communications specialist from NASA who shows them evidence of sabotage in the space programme.

    Director:William A. Graham
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 7 - 3
    6.3/10(6279 votes)

    S2:E7

    Mulder, back on the X-Files but alone for the first time, investigates a series of vampire-like murders in Los Angeles and finds himself falling for the one woman that may be the prime suspect.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan, Chris Ruppenthal

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 18 - Fearful Symmetry
    6.4/10(5433 votes)

    S2:E18

    In a small town in Idaho, a man is killed by what seems to be an invisible elephant. Mulder's investigation into the local zoo, its owners and a local animal rights group uncovers evidence of insidious alien experiments.

    Director:James Whitmore Jr.
    Writer:Steve De Jarnatt

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of The X-Files

    READ
  7. The X-Files Season 6 Episode 16 - Alpha
    6.4/10(3837 votes)

    S6:E16

    A mysterious dog thought to be the last of a rare Asian breed is responsible for several murders which Mulder and Scully are investigating. Now the agents have to find a way to stop the dog before it kills again.

    Director:Peter Markle
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The X-Files Season 10 Episode 5 - Babylon
    6.4/10(6103 votes)

    S10:E5

    Scully and Mulder investigate when an art gallery displaying offensive artwork is bombed, and need to discover a way to communicate with the comatose perpetrator to try and prevent a future attack.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The X-Files Season 11 Episode 1 - My Struggle III
    6.4/10(4613 votes)

    S11:E1

    Mulder and Scully learn that they aren't the only ones desperately searching for their long-lost son, William. The very fate of the world may depend on it.

    Director:Chris Carter
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The X-Files Season 7 Episode 9 - Signs and Wonders
    6.5/10(3570 votes)

    S7:E9

    Snakes are killing the unrighteous, but Mulder and Scully doubt that this is a case of divine intervention.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 3 - Teliko
    6.6/10(4689 votes)

    S4:E3

    After several African-American men are killed and the color is drained from their skin, Mulder learns about the Teliko, an African folktale about a creature who must suck the pigmentation from a persons body in order to survive.

    Director:Jim Charleston
    Writer:Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 5 - The Field Where I Died
    6.6/10(5447 votes)

    S4:E5

    After an FBI raid on a doomsday cult called the "Temple of the Seven Stars", Mulder meets Melissa, a cultist who claims to have known him in a previous life during the American Civil War. Scully believes the woman is a delusional schizophrenic, but Mulder allows himself to be drawn into her fantasies.

    Director:Rob Bowman
    Writers:James Wong, Glen Morgan

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 11 - El Mundo Gira
    6.6/10(4605 votes)

    S4:E11

    After a strange yellow rain kills a migrant girl, her family believes that a mythical creature el chupacabra was the cause and that it has manifested itself inside her fiancé's brother, who has since disappeared.

    Director:Tucker Gates
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The X-Files Season 11 Episode 9 - Nothing Lasts Forever
    6.6/10(2978 votes)

    S11:E9

    While investigating human organ theft, Mulder and Scully uncover a mysterious cult consumed with macabre rituals.

    Director:James Wong
    Writer:Karen Nielsen

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 7 - Ghost in the Machine
    6.7/10(8024 votes)

    S1:E7

    It's Halloween, and Mulder and Scully are investigating the strange death of a corporate executive in a sophisticated high-tech building.

    Director:Jerrold Freedman
    Writers:Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The X-Files Season 8 Episode 8 - Surekill
    6.7/10(3105 votes)

    S8:E8

    When a real estate agent is shot inside a prison cell by someone who apparently fired from the roof, Scully and Doggett track him to two exterminators, one of whom has x-ray vision.

    Director:Terrence O'Hara
    Writer:Greg Walker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The X-Files Season 8 Episode 9 - Salvage
    6.7/10(3118 votes)

    S8:E9

    A man whose blood is rapidly changing into metal alloy enacts revenge on those who caused his condition.

    Director:Rod Hardy
    Writer:Jeffrey Bell

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The X-Files Season 8 Episode 10 - Badlaa
    6.7/10(3400 votes)

    S8:E10

    An Indian mystic whose son died in a chemical plant accident smuggles himself into the United States and takes his revenge on two families in suburban Washington, D.C.

    Director:Tony Wharmby
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 5 - Lord of the Flies
    6.8/10(3062 votes)

    S9:E5

    When a stunt on a local cable reality show goes horribly wrong resulting in a man's death, Doggett and Reyes investigate. But when flies pour out of the victims eye sockets, they find themselves relying on Scully's expertise and ask her to join the investigation.

    Director:Kim Manners
    Writer:Thomas Schnauz

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 5 - The Jersey Devil
    6.9/10(8637 votes)

    S1:E5

    Mulder and Scully track a legendary creature that has roamed the New Jersey countryside for over forty years.

    Director:Joe Napolitano
    Writer:Chris Carter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The X-Files Season 2 Episode 11 - Excelsis Dei
    6.9/10(5750 votes)

    S2:E11

    Mulder and Scully uncover strange occurrences in an elderly care home when one of the nurses is attacked by an unseen force she claims to be one of the 90 year old residents.

    Director:Stephen Surjik
    Writer:Paul Brown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The X-Files Season 4 Episode 15 - Kaddish
    6.9/10(4601 votes)

    S4:E15

    After a Jewish man is murdered in a Jewish community, his killers are murdered, too. Mulder and Scully have to determine whether someone is exacting vengeance or larger forces are at work.

    Directors:Kim Manners, Michael Lange
    Writers:Chris Carter, Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The X-Files Season 5 Episode 9 - Schizogeny
    6.9/10(4225 votes)

    S5:E9

    A therapist working with children from abusive families is found to be implanting them with the memories of her own abuse suffered at the hands of her late father, when one of her patients tries to kill his stepfather.

    Director:Ralph Hemecker
    Writers:Mike Wollaeger, Jessica Scott

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The X-Files Season 9 Episode 12 - Underneath
    6.9/10(2763 votes)

    S9:E12

    Scully, Doggett and Reyes investigate an old case that Doggett worked on as a cop in Brooklyn, dubbed "The Screwdriver Killer". They try to determine whether the man who was convicted and has just been released from prison was actually the man responsible for the murders.

    Director:John Shiban
    Writer:John Shiban

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. The X-Files Season 1 Episode 15 - Lazarus
    7.0/10(6695 votes)

    S1:E15

    When FBI Agent Jack Willis and bank robber Warren Dupre are both shot at the same time during a robbery attempt, Dupre dies when Willis is brought back to life. When Willis rushes out of the hospital and begins acting strangely, Mulder concludes that Dupre has come back to life in Willis' body.

    Director:David Nutter
    Writers:Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Worst Episodes Summary

"Teso Dos Bichos" is the worst rated episode of "The X-Files". It scored 5.9/10 based on 4839 votes. Directed by Kim Manners and written by John Shiban, it aired on 3/8/1996. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Fight Club".